STUDIES OF TREES IN WINTER 



more frequently along river banks in tlie South 



than in the North. 



A small shrub (Bctida puniila), the dwarf 



birch, found in rocky pastures in Western 



^Massachusetts, Connecticut, and in the South 



and West, completes the list of our six native 



birches. 



„ A tree fnvii Enrobe, extensivelv 

 European ... 



Wliite Birch cultivated in tliis eouutry. White, 



Betula Ma ^j^^^jj^^, ^^^.f,^ j^^^^^^ slender, douii 



sweeping branches. Small buds. Alternate 

 leaf-scars. 



The slender, drooping branches of the Euro- 

 pean white birch are so long and pliant that 

 the slightest breeze sets 'them swaying in one 

 direction from the trunk, like a shower of rain 

 driven by the wind. The birch does not- lose 

 its pendulous grace in mere limp dejection, like 

 most of the weeping varieties of trees that gar- 

 deners love to propagate, but it holds its head 

 high and the slender branches droop down, — 

 a striking contrast to the weeping willow and 

 other lachrymose specimens of horticultural 

 art. 



There have been constant allusions to this 

 tree in English literature. Perhaps the most 

 descriptive is one of Sir Walter Scott's which 

 refers to the slender, pendulous boughs, — 



68 



